Screen for penetration printing



9, 1969 J. G. 'r. PATERSQN ET L 1 I SCREEN FOR FENETRATION PRINTING Filed Oct. '22, 1965 FIG.3.

FIG.2.

' FIG. 4.

INVENTORS JAMES 6.72 PATERSON ASHLEY F: SMITH JAMES K. SAMS United States Patent O 3,461,800 SCREEN FOR PENETRATION PRINTING James G. T. Paterson, Ashley P. Smith, and James K. Sams, Decatur, Ala., assignors to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 502,007 Int. Cl. B41l 47/04; B41n 9/02 US. Cl. 101368 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to printing screens and more particularly to screens suitable for impact or penetration printing of carpets and other fabrics.

The process which utilizes the screen of the present invention is disclosed and claimed in co-pending application Ser. No. 500,696, filed Oct. 22, 1965, for Method of Printing in the names of James G. T. Paterson, Ashley P. Smith and Bobby R. Thrasher.

It is known to use screens in the printing of patterns on fabrics and other materials. These screens commonly are provided with open spaces through which the co1oring agent is applied. In this type of printing it is necessary to use a different screen and a separate printing step for each color going to make up a pattern. Further, with this type of screen the coloring agent does not penetrate into the fabric but is more or less deposited on the surface thereof and is then permitted to wick down through the fabric. This can easily result in a blurred pattern. With this in mind one of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel and improved printing screen.

Another object of this invention is to provide a screen suitable for penetration printing of carpeting and other fabrics.

A further object of this invention is to provide a screen which is capable of simultaneously printing a plurality of colors to form a multi-colored pattern.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a printing screen which is capable of printing a design on carpeting material in such a manner that the design extends downwardly along the carpet pile to the backing of the carpet.

One embodiment of the present invention contemplates a screen made up of a plurality of cells of a porous material such as wool felt. The cells are arranged in a layer and are isolated from each other by an impervious material so that when an impact force is applied to the back of the screen a coloring agent in the cells is driven with great force into a fabric contiguous with the screen.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross section showing in general one type of apparatus in which the screen of the present invention may be utilized;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the dye carrying portion of the screen;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the face of a completed screen; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the type of penetration printing which can be achieved by the use of the screen of the present invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is shown a screen 11 having a plurality of porous, three-dimensional cells 12, each of which is adapted to hold a supply of a liquid dye or coloring agent. The screen 11 is made up of a backing layer 13 which is impervious to the dye and a plurality of similarly impervious walls or partitions 14 which separate the cells 12. The partitions 14 extend from the face 16 of the screen and are connected to the backing layer .13 to completely isolate the cells 12 from each other. The cells 12 may be made of a porous material such as hard wool felt. FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view with portions cut away to show the relationship of the cells 12 and the partitions 14. It will be noted from this view that the partitions 14 form a grid which separates the cells from each other.

FIGURE 1 shows in general the type of apparatus which is used with the screen of the present invention. In this apparatus the screen 11 is positioned with the face thereof in pontact with a carpet 17 having a backing layer 13 and tufts 19, the carpet 17 being positioned on a table 20. Above the screen 11 there is positioned an anvil 21 which is adapted to be struck by a hammer 22 and thereby be driven against the back of the screen 11. The impact force applied to the anvil 21 by the hammer 22 is transmitted through the anvil 21 to the screen 11 to drive the coloring agent out of the porous cells 12 and into the carpet 17.

In operation of this apparatus, the screen 11, the carpet 17 and the table 20 are advanced in intermittent steps past the anvil 21. Upon each stop of the screen 11 and the carpet 17 in their intermittent movement the hammer 22 is actuated to strike the anvil 21 and thereby apply an impact force to the screen 11. In this manner the impact forcesvare applied to all of the cells 12 to drive the coloring agent into the carpeting 17.

FIGURE 4 illustrates the type of result which can be achieved by the use of this screen. Portions of the tufts 19 of the carpet 17 have been cross hatched to show the location of the coloring agent in the carpet tufts after the impact step. It will be noted that the coloring agent is driven downward into the carpet tufts with almost no lateral movement of the coloring agent. This gives a deep penetration of the coloring agent into the carpet as well as resulting in a very clear color pattern.

FIGURE 3 illustrates a screen which may be made up to print several colors in a single printing step. In this particular screen it will be noted that there are three groups 26, 27 and 28 of cells 12, each of the groups 26-28 being divided into three parts. The groups 26-28 are cross hatched to illustrate the different colors which may be printed simultaneously. Prior to the printing operation .each of the cells in the groups 26-28 are filled with a coloring agent and the screen is then placed face down in contact with the carpet 17 or some other material which is to be printed. The screen and the carpet are then advanced as described above past the anvil 21. The impact forces applied to the back of the screen 11 will drive the coloring agent from the cells 12 to impart the color pattern established by the groups 26-28 to the carpet 17.

The screen 11 may be made in the following manner. A block of hard wool felt is cut into thin slices. These slices are then laminated together by the use of a material such as a rubber-like elastomer which may be cured at a low temperature. The resulting block is then cut into thin slices, the cutting being done along parallel planes which are perpendicular to the layers of rubber between the laminations. The resulting slices are then joined together by the use of the same rubber-like material to provide a thick block having a cross sectional configuration such as that illustrated in FIGURE 2.

Slices are then cut off the end of this block to provide layers having the thickness and cross sectional configuration in FIGURE 2. The back of this layer is then covered with the rubber-like material to complete the screen 11. If desired, one or more layers of fabric or other material may be incorporated into the backing layer 13 to improve the strength and dimensional stability of this layer. The backing layer 13 may subsequently be perforated to render it air permeable but impervious to the coloring agent being used.

It will be noted that the cells 12 are three-dimensional in configuration. A preferred cell dimension is 4;" along each side, the cell being cubical in form. The cells can be made larger in cross sectional area but if made too large the coloring agent may tend to flow laterally to some extent rather than directly downward into the carpet, thereby resulting in a blurred color pattern. Of course, other porous materials may be used for the construction of the cells 12. Materials other than a rubber-like elastomeric material may also be used for making the partitions 14 and the backing layer 13.

What is claimed is:

1. A screen for penetration printing, comprising an impervious backing layer, and a porous material secured by the back face thereof to the backing layer for holding a coloring agent, said porous material having therein a plurality of impervious partitions extending from the front face thereof toward the backing layer to laterally confine the coloring agent at the front face of said porous ma- I 2. A screen for penetration printing, comprising a supporting backing layer, said layer having thereon a plurality of cells, each of said cells being adapted to contain a supply of a coloring agent, and a plurality of partitions positioned between the cells for preventing lateral movecent of the coloring agent from one cell to another, said cells having opened ends facing away from the supporting backing layer so that an impact force applied to the screen will drive the coloring agent out of said cells, said cells having cross-sectional dimensions of about A; inch.

3. A screen for penetration printing, comprising a plurality of cells made of wool felt, said cells each having a three-dimensional configuration, said cells being positioned in a plane in spaced relationship to each other, each of said cells being adapted to hold a supply of a dye, a plurality of dye impervious walls positioned between the cells for preventing lateral movement of the dye, and a dye impervious layer secured to the cells to form a backing layer, said cells having cross-sectional dimensions of about A; inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 629,076 7/1899 Hess 101-333 X 659,535 10/1900 Lankford. 2,071,249 2/1937 Cantor 10l--115 2,427,765 9/ 1947 Chollar 101-202 X 3,180,256 4/1965 Kramer et al 101-l29 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner CLIFFORD D. CROWDER, Assistant Examiner 

